iSfalfll 

JHBlil 

1'IBRAHY 

OF   THL 
UN  IVERSITY 
Of    ILLINOIS 

977  2 

InZ 

ilU  HIST.  SliRVW 


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EARLY    NAVIGATION 

ON    THE 
ST.    JOSEPH    RIVER 


BY 
OTTO  M.  KNOBLOCK 


Indiana  Historical 

Society  Publications 

Volume  8 

Number  4 


INDIANAPOLIS 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  SOCIETY 

1925 


The  Wm.  Mitchell  Printing  Co. 
Greenfield,   Indiana 


EARLY  NAVIGATION  ON  THE  ST.  JOSEPH  RIVER1 

Where  the  tall  grasses  nod  at  the  close  of  the  day, 

And  the  sycamore  shadow  is  slanting  away — 

Where  the  whip-poor-will  chants  from  a  far  distant  limb 

Just  as  if  the  whole  business  was  all  made  for  him. 

Oh !  It's  now  that  my  thoughts,  flying  back  on  the  wings 

Of  the  rail  and  the  die-away  song  that  he  sings, 

Brings  the  tears  to  my  eyes  that  drip  off  into  rhyme 

And  I  live  once  again  in  the  old  summer  time ; 

For  my  soul  it  seems  caught  in  old  time's  undertow 

And  I'm  floating  away  down  the  river  St.  Joe. 

Ben  King,  the  gentle  poet  of  the  St.  Joseph,  certainly  loved 
his  favorite  river. 

The  river  now  known  as  the  St.  Joseph  was  first  named 
"The  river  of  the  Miamis."  Later  it  was  named  "St.  Joseph's 
river  of  the  Lakes,"  which  was  shortened  first  to  St.  Joseph's 
and  then  to  St.  Joseph.  The  present  source  of  this  river  is  in 
Hillsdale  County,  Michigan,  flowing  southwesterly  into  Indiana 
in  Elkhart  County,  then  turning  northerly,  leaving  the  state  in 
St.  Joseph  County  and  entering  Michigan  in  Berrien  County, 
thence  flowing  northwesterly  into  Lake  Michigan  at  the  port 
of  St.  Joseph. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  white  men,  this  country  was  in- 
habited by  roving  bands  of  Indians  who  had  no  permanent 
abiding  place  but  moved  about  in  quest  of  game,  going  south 


xThis  address  was  delivered  before  the  annual  meeting  of  the  In- 
diana Historical  Society,  and  the  Society  of  Indiana  Pioneers  at  South 
Bend,  Indiana,  August  28,  1925.  It  is  a  revision  of  the  original  article 
written  September  3,  1895,  when  authentic  information  was  obtainable ; 
re-written  December  6,  1921,  with  additional  facts;  both  manuscripts 
are  in  the  files  of  the  Northern  Indiana  Historical  Society,  South 
Bend,   Indiana. 

(185) 


186 


Early   Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River 


in  the  fall  and  north  with  the  returning  spring.  Detached 
parties  of  Indians,  scouting  for  various  purposes,  were  con- 
stantly passing  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  country 
south  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers. 

The  location  of  the  principal  portages,  or  carrying  places, 
over  which  it  was  necessary  to  pass  in  order  to  make  the 
journey  by  water,  were  well  known  to  the  Indians,  and  there 
is  every  evidence  that  the  favorite  route  between  Lake  Michi- 
gan and  the  south,  was  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  the 
Kankakee  rivers  in  what  is  now  northern  Indiana,  because  the 
portage  between  them  was  passable  at  all  times  of  the  year.  It 
passed  over  solid  high  ground,  which  was  not  true  of  the  Fox 
River  portage  in  Wisconsin  nor  the  Chicago  River  portage  in 
Illinois.  The  Indians  were  encumbered  in  their  marches  with 
camp  equipage  and  supplies  and  voluntarily  chose  the  route 
offering  the  least  inconvenience,  so  we  may  consider  the  red 
man  in  his  birch  bark  canoe  as  the  pioneer  in  river  transporta- 
tion on  the  St.  Joseph. 


MICH  id  ATT. 


INDIANA. 


I,OCAT!ON  OK  ST  JOSEPH   KANKAKEE    POKTAtiE. 


Map  showing  source  of  St.   Joseph   River   in   Southern   Michigan;   abrupt 
turn  northerly  at  South  Bend,   Indiana,   and  thence   to   Lake   Michigan; 
source   of   the    Kankakee   River    near   South    Bend,    and    the    St.    Joseph- 
Kankakee    portage. 


La  Salle,   with  thirty  men  including  Hennepin  and  Tonty, 


Early   Navigation   on   tup:  St.   Joseph   Rivek  1S7 

passed  up  the  river  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  head  of  the 
Kankakee  portage  in  1679,  carrying  a  quantity  of  material, 
part  of  which  was  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  a  vessel 
which  he  contemplated  building  on  the  Mississippi  River ;  he 
was,  therefore,  the  first  white  man  who  actually  transported 
merchandise  on  the  river. 

In  later  years,  trading  posts  were  established  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  now  St.  Joseph,  Michigan,  and  at  Niles,  Michi- 
gan ;  and  the  Indians,  as  well  as  French  trappers,  brought 
their  furs  in  canoes  from  points  up  the  river.  A  brisk  traffic 
was  carried  on  as  early  as  1700.  From  that  period  to  1831, 
there  was  no  organized  attempt  made  to  carry  other  freight 
on  the  river,  but  as  towns  were  building  on  its  banks  and 
mills  going  into  operation,  it  was  clear  that  the  surplus 
products  could  be  freighted  down  to  Lake  Michigan  and 
carried  to  Chicago  and  other  markets,  and  such  merchandise 
as  was  not  produced  here  could  be  brought  up  from  the  lake 
by  the  same  means. 

In  the  year  1831,  Peter  Johnson,  a  carpenter  in  the  village 
of  South  Bend,  undertook  the  construction  of  the  first  keel 
boat,  which  was  the  pioneer  of  a  large  fleet  of  such  boats. 
He  purchased  a  quantity  of  lumber  at  Niles  with  which  to 
build  a  house,  and  to  transport  it  to  South  Bend,  he  bought  of 
a  French  trader  at  Niles,  a  pirogue,  or  large  canoe  which  had 
been  used  for  carrying  furs.  He  poled  it  up  to  South  Bend, 
discharged  the  cargo,  and  conceived  the  idea  of  lengthening 
and  broadening  it,  so  as  to  give  it  more  carrying  capacity.  He 
split  it  lengthwise  and  made  it  40  feet  long  and  6  feet  wide, 
with  running  boards  along  the  sides  12  inches  wide  with 
cleats  nailed  on  crosswise.  The  running  boards  projected  out- 
side the  gunwale,  so  supported  on  brackets  as  to  leave  the 
body  of  the  boat  free  for  cargo.  The  shipyard  was  at  the 
foot  of  Washington  Street.  The  boat  was  named  the  Fair- 
play  and  was  captained  on  its  first  trip  to  St.  Joseph  by 
Johnson,  and  on  subsequent  trips  by  Madore  Cratee  and  a 
crew   of    four   men.      The   Fairplay,   while   actually   the    first 


188         Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph   River 

freight  boat,  was  not  a  representative  of  the  keel-boat  family 
as  afterwards  developed,  being  nothing  more  than  a  large, 
clumsy  canoe. 

The  next  year,  1832,  Johnson  built  the  first  real,  large- 
capacity  keel  boat.  To  Lee  P.  Johnson,  his  son,  who  was  six- 
teen years  old  at  that  time,  and  who  died  October  6,  1896,  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years,  I  am  indebted  for  a  description  of  its 
building  and  launching.  Peter  Johnson's  carpenter  shop  was 
located  at  what  is  now  116  West  Washington  Street,  between 
Michigan  and  Main  Streets ;  in  the  street  directly  in  front  of 
the  shop,  the  keel  was  laid.  Utilizing  the  street  for  a  shipyard 
was  evidently  considered  no  obstruction  to  traffic  which  was 
confined  to  an  occasional  horse  or  ox-drawn  wagon,  and  as 
there  were  no  curb-lines  and  the  sidewalks  were  undefined, 
the  work  really  did  not  bother  any  one,  and  permission  of  the 
town  authorities  was  neither  asked  nor  required.  The  keel 
was  80  feet  long,  with  stem  and  stern  posts  and  bent  knees, 
something  like  those  used  in  canal  boats.  Two-inch  oak 
planks  were  used  to  cover  the  frame  work,  the  planks  running- 
lengthwise  ;  and  those  at  the  bow  and  stern  were  steamed  and 
bent  to  conform  to  the  model,  so  as  to  make  the  boat  pointed, 
or  approximately  so,  at  both  ends.  The  stern  was  not  actually 
pointed  but  was  somewhat  contracted.  The  keel  proper  pro- 
jected two  inches  below  the  bottom  and  was  also  of  oak.  The 
planking  was  firmly  nailed  on  to  the  knees  and  stem  and  stern 
posts,  the  work  being  done  while  the  boat  was  lying  upside 
down.  When  finished,  the  seams  were  calked  and  the  entire 
bottom  pitched.  The  difficulty  that  now  presented  itself  was 
to  get  it  into  the  river,  about  one  thousand  feet  straight  east. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Washington  Street  at  that  time 
( 1832)  bore  not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  the  street  of  our 
day.  While  the  real  bank  of  the  river  was  a  straight  north 
and  south  line  through  town,  the  land  on  the  west  side  was 
low  and  swampy,  except  for  a  narrow  strip  of  sand  that 
marked  the  edge  of  the  river  and  conformed  to  what  is  now 
its  west  bank.     The  bluff,  or  edge  of  the  high  bank,  did  not 


Early   Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  189 

follow  the  bank  of  the  river,  hut  extended  in  a  circle,  leaving 
the  edge  of  the  river  near  where  the  dam  now  is  and  running 
obliquely  in  a  gradual  retreat  from  the  river,  and  crossing 
Washington  Street  about  at  Mill  Street  which  is  the  first  alley 
east  of  Michigan  Street ;  from  here  it  extended  north,  parallel 
with  Michigan  Street,  until  it  met  the  river  at  La  Salle  Avenue. 
The  edge  of  this  bluff  was  well  defined  and  quite  steep,  and 
there  were  no  roads  running  east  and  west  over  it  because  the 
land  lying  between  the  bluff  and  the  river — now  occupied  by 
the  west  race  and  buildings  thereon — was  low  and  swampy  and 
covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  willows. 

It  was  seldom  that  any  one  descended  the  bluff  and  waded 
through  the  swamp,  for  when  they  wished  to  reach  the  river 
they  went  around  the  swamp.  At  each  of  these  points  were 
old  Indian  trails,  and  one  could  reach  the  river  from  uptown 
without  getting  into  the  mud. 

Johnson  deemed  it  advisable  to  attempt  to  drag  the  boat 
from  the  carpenter  shop  directly  to  the  river,  rather  than 
carry  it  around  either  end  of  the  swamp ;  it  was  necessary, 
therefore,  to  prepare  a  roadway  from  the  edge  of  the  bluff 
across  the  swamp  to  the  bank  of  the  river.  He  first  leveled 
down  the  sharp  edge  of  the  bluff  so  that  the  boat  could  slide 
over  without  much  danger  of  breaking.  He  then  cut  down  a 
large  number  of  the  willow  trees  in  the  swamp  and  laid  them 
crosswise,  and  on  them  piled  brush  and  trunks  of  trees  until 
he  had  formed  a  sort  of  corduroy  road  or  causeway  from  the 
base  of  the  bluff  across  the  swamp  to  the  river.  When  every- 
thing was  ready,  Johnson  sent  runners  out  into  the  country 
asking  the  settlers  to  come  into  town  on  a  prearranged  day 
and  assist  in  the  launching.  When  the  day  arrived,  a  large 
number  of  citizens  were  on  hand.  The  first  job  was  to  turn 
the  boat  over  on  her  keel,  and  as  it  was  very  heavy,  the  united 
help  of  everyone  present  was  required.  When  the  boat  was 
ready  to  drag  to  the  river,  rollers  were  put  under  it,  ropes 
attached,  and  all  hands  bent  to  the  task.  As  many  as  could 
took  hold  of  the  sides  of  the  boat,  and  the  rest  pulled  at  the 


190         Early   Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph   River 

ropes ;  when  the  boat  was  finally  started  she  was  not  allowed 
to  come  to  rest  until  they  reached  the  bluff.  The  sliding  of  the 
boat  over  the  bluff  was  a  very  particular  job,  as  there  was 
danger  of  breaking  its  back,  or,  in  marine  parlance,  "hogging" 
it.  With  great  labor  the  boat  was  finally  dragged  across  the 
swamp  to  the  edge  of  the  river  and  slipped  into  the  water. 
Madore  Cratee,  who  was  to  be  the  captain,  sprang  into  the 
boat  and  broke  a  bottle  of  spirits  over  its  bow,  at  the  same 
time  announcing  that  the  name  of  the  new  boat  was  to  be  the 
Antelope. 

The  launching  occurred  exactly  at  the  foot  of  Washington 
Street  and  the  sloping  down  of  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  and 
preparation  of  a  roadway  for  the  launching  of  the  Antelope 
was  the  first  attempt  made  to  grade  what  is  now  East  Wash- 
ington Street. 

In  the  same  year,  1832,  Johnson  built  another  keel  boat 
similar  to  the  Antelope  which  he  named  the  Comet.  He  built 
it  close  to  the  edge  of  the  river  where  the  water  works 
reservoir  is,  having  learned  by  experience  that  it  was  too  much 
labor  to  launch  the  boats  when  built  on  high  ground. 

From  1833  to  1840,  Captain  Boyd,  of  Mishawaka,  built 
four  or  five  keel  boats,  somewhat  smaller  than  those  built  by 
Johnson,  that  were  known  by  the  name  of  "Red  Dogs"  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  larger  keel  boats.  They  were  not 
named,  but  known  by  number. 

In  1833,  the  fleet  running  between  Three  Rivers  and  the 
lake  consisted  of  ten  or  eleven  keel  boats,  some  of  which 
were  80  feet  long  by  7  feet  wide  and  capable  of  carrying  350 
barrels  of  flour. 

In  1842,  Alexis  Coquillard,  who  was  running  a  flour  mill, 
engaged  a  canal  boat  builder  living  at  Fort  Wayne  to  come 
to  South  Bend  and  build  a  boat  designed  for  carrying  flour 
to  the  lake.  This  boat,  named  the  South  Bend,  was  not  a 
success,  being  too  heavy  and  drawing  too  much  water,  so  that 
it  was  next  to  impossible  to  float  it  over  the  riffles  and  bars 
in  the  river.     It  made  a  trip  down  to  the  lake  and  back,  but 


Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph   River  191 

the  experience  on  that  trip  was  so  discouraging  that  its  use 
was  discontinued.  Coquillard  was  noted  for  doing  such 
things  on  a  large  scale,  and,  had  the  river  been  deeper,  his  plan 
for  a  boat  of  considerable  capacity  would  have  been  both 
feasible  and  remunerative. 

The  job  of  pole  boatman  was  no  sinecure,  for  it  is  hard  to 
imagine  more  exhausting  labor.  Going  down  stream  with  the 
current,  there  was  little  to  do  aside  from  keeping  the  boat  in 
the  channel,  but  the  up  trip  was  a  killer.  The  usual  comple- 
ment was  seven  to  nine  men,  the  captain,  who  acted  as  steers- 
man, and  six  to  eight  men  to  pole.  On  the  up  trip,  the  men 
took  their  places  at  the  bow,  say  four  on  each  side,  standing 
close  together  on  the  running  boards  and  facing  down  stream. 
At  the  command  from  the  captain,  the  two  rearmost  men 
plunged  their  poles  downward  into  the  water  and  set  them 
firmly  on  the  bottom,  then,  leaning  forward  with  their  shoul- 
ders against  the  top  of  the  pole,  started  to  walk  down  stream, 
pushing  hard  all  the  time  until  they  lay  almost  horizontal. 
This  started  the  boat  up  stream.  As  soon  as  they  progressed 
a  little  way,  the  Number  2  men  set  their  poles  and  pushed, 
then  the  Number  3  men  followed  suit,  and  the  Number  4  men 
in  turn.  When  the  Number  1  men  neared  the  stern,  the 
Number  4  men  ceased  pushing,  and,  withdrawing  their  poles, 
ran  forward  to  the  bow  and  set  their  poles ;  as  soon  as  they  had 
good  hold,  the  other  men  ran  back  for  new  positions.  In  this 
way  the  headway  of  the  boat  was  kept  up.  On  boats  having 
very  wide  running  boards,  or  an  extra  inboard  run- way,  the 
men  would  use  it  on  the  way  back  to  the  bow,  travelling  in  a 
circle,  thus  leaving  all  the  men  but  one  to  do  continuous  effec- 
tive poling  work,  but  as  it  was  necessary  for  the  returning  men 
to  lift  their  poles  clear  of  the  water  and  to  carry  them  back 
instead  of  simply  dragging  them  back  through  the  water  there 
was  a  question  as  to  the  utility  of  the  plan.  The  work  was  ex- 
ceedingly laborious  and  only  the  most  hardy  men  could  stand 
it.  They  had  callouses  on  their  shoulders  where  the  poles 
rested  that  would  make  a  hodcarrier  blush. 

Lee  P.  Johnson,  son  of  Peter  Johnson,  the  first  South  Bend 


192         Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph   River 

boat  builder,  was  fifteen  years  old  in  1831,  and  distinctly 
remembered  the  launching  of  the  three  boats  built  by  his 
father.  He  went  down  to  the  lake  in  the  fall  of  that  year  as 
passenger  on  the  Fairplay.  The  incidents  of  the  trip  were 
told  to  me  by  him  in  1895,  at  which  time  I  made  careful  notes 
for  future  reference.  The  trip  was  still  fresh  in  Mr.  John- 
son's mind,  although  it  had  occurred  sixty-four  years  before, 
and  he  described  his  emotions  when  Lake  Michigan  opened 
to  his  view  and  he  saw  the  lake  boats,  schooners  and  sloops, 
which  would  seem  small  enough  affairs  now,  but  which  then 
seemed  to  be  monsters  in  size  and  importance.  He  was  too 
young  to  have  to  work  his  passage  back  and  passed  his  time 
swimming,  or  sleeping  under  the  shade  of  the  higher  portions 
of  the  cargo,  but  as  the  river  twisted,  the  boat  pointed  suc- 
cessively to  every  point  of  the  compass  and  to  keep  out  of  the 
sun  long  was  impossible. 

Young  Johnson  was  very  anxious  to  emulate  the  example 
of  the  polemen,  so  at  one  place  where  the  current  was  not 
strong,  his  father  told  him  to  take  one  of  the  poles  and  go  to 
work.  Johnson  took  the  pole  and  stepped  onto  the  running 
board,  set  the  pole  on  the  bottom  and  endeavored  to  fall  on 
to  it  with  his  shoulder  as  he  saw  the  other  men  do,  but  failed 
to  make  connections  with  the  pole  and  plunged  into  the  water. 
One  of  the  polemen  grasped  him  by  the  coat  collar  as  he 
floated  past  and  jerked  him  out.  After  that  Johnson  was 
satisfied  to  act  as  passenger. 

The  poling  of  keel  boats  did  not  continue  long,  for  when 
steamboats  came  into  use  in  1833,  they  towed  the  boats  up  the 
river  in  strings  of  four  or  five,  so  that  the  labors  of  the  boat- 
men were  lightened.  One  of  the  keel  boats  which  was  built 
by  Lyman  A.  Barnard,  of  Niles,  in  1832,  and  capable  of 
carrying  fifteen  tons  of  freight,  was  rigged  with  a  mast  and 
sails  and  made  several  trips  across  the  lake  to  Chicago. 

Keel  boating  has  its  perils :  in  the  summer  of  1859,  a  "Red 
Dog"  keel  boat  belonging  to  Captain  Boyd,  of  Mishawaka, 
came  down  the  river,  and  passing  into  the  head  of  the  west 


Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  193 

race  near  the  dam  at  South  Bend,  encountered  a  hawser 
stretched  across  below  the  head  gates.  The  hawser,  which 
was  used  for  a  hand  rope  to  draw  boats  across  the  race,  was 
but  a  few  feet  above  the  water,  and  a  man  named  Trimble, 
who  was  steering,  did  not  observe  the  obstruction  until  the 
boat  had  begun  to  pass  under  it.  He  was  unable  to  avoid  the 
tightly  stretched  hawser,  which  caught  and  held  him  against 
a  part  of  the  cargo  in  such  manner  that  his  back  was  broken 
and  he  died  immediately. 

Shipping  statistics  show  that  in  1832,  merchandise  to  the 
extent  of  10,000  barrels  was  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
then  called  "Newburyport"  (now  St.  Joseph),  for  shipment 
up  the  river. 

The  following  is  a  complete  list  of  keel  boats  distinguished 
by  name,  that  were  engaged  in  the  carrying  trade  on  the  river 
from  the  commencement  of  the  traffic  in  1831  until  their  use 
was  gradually  discontinued :  Fairplay,  Antelope,  Comet, 
White  Pigeon,  Mason,  Ottawa,  Three  Brothers,  Swallow, 
Red  Bird,  Odd  Fellow,  Buena  Vista,  Rover,  Racer,  Dolphin, 
Diamond,  Empire,  Gem,  Ruby,  Goshen,  Cass,  and  South  Bend. 
This  list  does  not  include  Captain  Boyd's  boats,  which  were 
known  by  numbers.  Altogether,  there  were  twenty-five  regu- 
lar keel  boats  from  the  beginning  till  the  end  of  this  period. 

The  St.  Joseph  Intelligencer  and  the  South  Bend  North- 
western Pioneer,  of  the  years  1831  and  1832,  record  the 
arrival  and  departure  of  practically  all  the  above-named  boats. 

The  South  Bend  Northwestern  Pioneer,  under  date  of 
January  14,  1832,  but  a  few  months  before  the  advent  of  the 
first  steamboat  on  the  lower  end  of  the  river,  discussed  the 
subject  of  steamboats  as  follows : 

That  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  by  steam  boats  is  a 
subject  of  vast  importance  to  the  whole  of  the  country  watered  by  its 
tributary  streams  must  be  acceded  to  by  everyone  who  has  paid  any  at- 
tention to  the  almost  magical  effect  of  their  introduction  on  the  Missis- 
sippi, Ohio  and  their  tributaries,  and  I  believe  it  is  practicable  to  navigate 
the  St.  Joseph  with  steamboats,  even  in  its  present  natural  state,  for 
several  months  of  the  year,  yet  we  may  not  hope  that  it  can  be  success- 
fully and  efficiently  prosecuted  until  its  obstructions  are  removed. 


194         Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River 

The  first  steamboat  was  called  the  Newburyport  and,  in 
1832,  under  the  command  of  Captain  White,  made  a  trip  as 
far  up  the  river  from  St.  Joseph  as  Berrien  Springs,  where 
she  ran  aground  and  was  brought  back  to  St.  Joseph  in  a 
damaged  condition.  The  idea  was  abandoned  for  that  year, 
but  in  the  following  year,  1833,  Deacon  and  McCaleb,  of  St. 
Joseph,  built  the  Matilda  Barney,  a  flat-bottomed  stern-wheeler. 
Joseph  Fisbay  was  the  ship  carpenter  and  P.  B.  Andrews  built 
the  engine.  David  Wilson  was  captain  and  Leveret  Plum, 
engineer.  The  Matilda  made  her  appearance  in  South  Bend 
early  in  the  summer  of  1833  and  was  heartily  welcomed  by  the 
citizens. 

Lee  P.  Johnson  related  to  the  writer  in  1895  an  incident  in 
connection  with  the  arrival  of  the  Matilda  on  her  first  trip. 
At  that  time  (1833)  Johnson  was  working  as  a  printer  in  the 
office  of  the  Northwestern  Pioneer,  a  newspaper  issued  by 
John  D.  and  Joseph  H.  Defrees,  at  a  printing  office  on 
Vistula  Avenue,  South  Bend  (now  number  115  Lincoln  Way 
East).  On  the  day  of  the  arrival  of  the  Matilda  Barney, 
Johnson  was  in  the  office  with  Anthony  Defrees  and  John  M. 
Landon,  typesetters,  when  the  steamer's  whistle  was  heard  as 
she  made  her  way  up  the  river  four  or  five  miles  below  the 
town.  At  the  sound  of  the  whistle,  the  boys  dropped  their 
work  and  rushed  out  of  the  office  on  a  run  for  the  river  bank, 
taking  a  direct  cut  in  the  direction  of  the  foot  of  Market 
Street  (now  Colfax  Avenue),  jumping  over  the  edge  of  the 
bluff  and  rushing  down  hill  directly  into  and  through  the 
swamp  lying  below  the  bluff.  They  were  in  such  a  hurry 
and  under  such  excitement  that  they  did  not  follow  around 
the  edge  of  the  bluff  on  high  land,  but  plunged  into  the 
willows  and  floundered  through  the  best  they  could.  They 
paid  no  attention  to  the  mud,  so  intent  were  they  on  gaining 
the  bank  of  the  river.  Of  course  the  steamer  was  not  in  sight, 
and  they  ran  on  down  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  As  John- 
son said,  had  the  steamer  not  come  into  view,  they  would  have 
run  to  Niles.     When  they  rounded  the  point  at  McCartney's 


Early   Navigation  on   the   St.   Joseph   River  195 

Creek,  two  miles  below  town,  they  saw  the  Matilda  headed  up 
stream,  the  whistle  sounding  almost  continuously.  The  boys 
were  terribly  excited  and  immediately  laid  plans  for  boarding 
the  boat.  At  that  point  the  current  swept  toward  the  west 
bank  to  avoid  a  shallow  place  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
and  the  boys  figured  that  the  steamer  would  come  quite  close 
to  the  west  bank  where  a  huge  basswood  tree  leaned  quite  a 
distance  over  the  river.  The  boys  started  to  climb  the  tree  and 
run  out  on  a  horizontal  limb,  hoping  to  be  able  to  drop  on 
the  steamer's  deck  when  she  passed  under.  The  first  man  up 
the  tree  was  Landon,  who,  in  his  excitement,  lost  his  hold  and 
fell  into  ten  feet  of  water.  Johnson  and  Defrees  were  obliged 
to  help  him  land,  and  in  the  meantime  the  steamer  swept  past. 
The  boys  ran  up  the  bank  to  intercept  the  boat  at  the  next 
riffle,  but  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  gain  a  footing  on  her 
and  they  had  to  content  themselves  with  racing  on  land.  By 
this  time  the  entire  population  had  gathered  on  the  shore  and 
everyone  was  wild  with  excitement.  The  steamer  did  not  stop 
until  she  ran  her  nose  upon  the  sand  at  the  foot  of  Washing- 
ton Street. 

A  few  days  before  the  Matilda  left  St.  Joseph,  word  was 
sent  to  Peter  Johnson,  who  at  that  time  was  proprietor  of  the 
Michigan  Hotel,  which  stood  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Michigan  and  Washington  Streets  (where  the  Frumas  Central 
Drug  store  now  is),  that  about  one  hundred  people  would 
come  aboard  her,  and  he  was  ordered  to  prepare  dinner.  When 
the  boat  landed  all  hands  adjourned  to  Johnson's  Hotel  where 
a  bountiful  dinner  was  ready.  The  steamer  left  St.  Joseph 
with  a  large  contingent  of  citizens  and  picked  up  many  persons 
at  Berrien  Springs  and  Niles,  all  anxious  to  participate  in  the 
pleasures  of  the  first  steamer  trip  up  the  river.  No  freight 
was  carried  on  the  trial  trip,  but  on  subsequent  trips,  which 
were  quite  regularly  made,  she  was  well  loaded  with  mer- 
chandise, and  towed  from  two  to  five  keel  boats  as  well.  She 
was  a  success  from  the  start  and  would  have  made  money  for 
her  owners  had  she  been  allowed  a  monopoly  of  the  river 
business. 


196         Early   Navigation  ok  the  St.  Joseph  River 

In  the  next  year,  1834,  the  steamer  Davy  Crockett  was 
brought  up  the  lake  from  Presque  Isle,  and  began  running  on 
the  river  in  competition  with  the  Matilda  Barney.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  two  boats  on  the  river  was  an  event  of  much  im- 
portance. A  spirit  of  rivalry  led  their  owners  to  take  tows 
and  carry  passengers  at  cheaper  rates  than  if  there  had  been 
no  competition. 

One  Nathan  Young,  of  Berrien  Springs,  a  poet  and  a  wag, 
wrote,  in  1834,  the  following  verses,  describing  the  ''un- 
pleasantness" between  the  boats  and  referring  to  the  trip  on 
which  the  Matilda  Barney  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  run  on  a 
snag  and  break  her  wheel  and  had  to  be  towed  to  St.  Joseph 
by  the  Crockett.  As  both  had  stern  wheels,  she  could  only 
be  towed  by  lashing  her  alongside,  and  the  boats  proceeded 
down  the  river  in  a  close  embrace.     The  "poem"  is  as  follows : 

Now  Davy  Crockett  came  to  town,  all  dressed  up  like  a  dandy, 
From  Presque  Isle,  he  has  come  around,  to  spark  Matilda  Barney. 
Now  Davy  he  approaching  her,  with  her  began  to  blarney, 
Your  company's  not  wanted  here,  replied  Matilda  Barney. 

Oh,  how  can  you  treat  me  so,  my  dearest  Miss  Matilda, 

Since  you  have  got  no  other  beau,  and  I  love  you  so  dearly. 

You  appear  to  be  a  nice  young  man,  replied  Matilda  Barney, 

You  are  also  an  obliging  friend,  more  than  I  could  wish  to  have  you. 

At  length  Matilda  she  grew  lame,  and  Davy  made  toward  her, 
She  soon  consented  for  him  to  see  her  safe  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
It  was  hand  in  hand,  they  both  locked  arms,  and  down  they  came  together, 
Delighted  with  each  other's  charms,  like  a  sister  and  a  brother. 

The  Pocahontas  was  the  next  steamer,  followed  by  the 
Indiana,  the  Algona,  and  the  Niles.  The  Niles  was  built  by 
William  B.  Beeson,  of  Niles,  and  was  commanded  by  Captain 
Darius  Jennings.  In  1849,  she  was  bought  by  the  Michigan 
Central  Railroad  Company  and  run  between  Constantine  and 
Niles. 

The  following,  as  far  as  can  be  learned,  is  a  complete  list  of 
freight  steamcraft  running  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  from  1832 
to  the  present  time:  Newbury  port,  Matilda  Barney,  Davy 
Crockett,  Pocahontas,  Algona,  Indiana,  Mishawaka,  John  F. 
Porter,  Michigan,   Niles,   Niles  Jr.,  St.   Joseph,    Union  City, 


Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River  197 

Pilot,    Magnolia,    King    Brothers,    Kakota,    Schuyler    Colfax, 
May  Graham,  Constantino,  Albany,  Diamond,  and  Kalamazoo. 

All  the  above-named  boats  were  intended  primarily  for 
carrying  freight  but  took  on  such  passengers  as  desired  to  use 
them.  After  the  lock  at  South  Bend  was  closed,  four  pleasure 
steamboats  were  built  at  South  Bend  for  passenger  traffic 
between  that  city  and  Mishawaka  and  for  popular  "moon- 
light" excursions.  These  boats  were  named  the  Condon,  J.  C. 
Knoblock  (later  re-named  Vandalia),  Ben  Hamilton  and 
Tourist.  The  /.  C.  Knoblock,  the  most  pretentious  boat  ever 
run  on  the  river,  was  built  in  1882  and  had  a  capacity  of  800 
to  1,000  passengers.  It  ran  for  several  seasons  over  the  four- 
mile  stretch  of  river  and  afforded. much  pleasure  to  the  thou- 
sands who  patronized  it.  The  other  three  boats  were  small, 
and  in  this  day  of  internal  combustion  engines,  would  be 
called  launches.  The  last  river  boat  to  operate  in  the  freight 
and  passenger  service  was  the  May  Graham  running  between 
St.  Joseph  and  Berrien  Springs.  She  will  be  remembered  by 
hundreds  of  citizens.  Captain  Fikes  commanded  her,  and  his 
wife  served  a  very  satisfactory  dinner  for  the  passengers.  The 
Graham  was  withdrawn  in  1908,  and  after  lying  quietly  at 
St.  Joseph  for  three  years,  was,  in  1911,  taken  up  on  the  Grand 
River,  Michigan,  and  run  from  Grand  Haven  to  within  ten 
miles  of   Grand  Rapids. 

Before  the  Michigan  Southern  and  Northern  Indiana 
Railroad  was  built  through  South  Bend  all  the  merchandise 
for  our  merchants  was  received  by  way  of  the  river ;  until 
1852,  a  heavy  traffic  was  carried  on.  Horatio  Chapin,  who 
located  in  South  Bend  in  1831  and  commenced  business  in  a 
hewn  log  cabin  on  St.  Joseph  Street,  once  received  a  large  con- 
signment of  goods  by  steamer  on  a  Saturday  afternoon.  The 
goods  were  immediately  piled  out  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  but 
no  teams  were  to  be  had  to  haul  them  up  to  the  store  that  after- 
noon. The  next  morning  there  were  plenty  of  teams  on  hand, 
but  no  man  nor  beast  could  work  for  Mr.  Chapin  on  a  Sunday, 
so  the  goods  lay  there,  exposed  to  the  weather  and  with  no  one 
to  look  after  them,  until  Monday  morning.    There  were  at  that 


198         Early   Navigation  on   the  St.  Joseph    River 

time  no  warehouses  or  shelters  of  any  kind  to  protect  merchan- 
dise from  the  elements. 

The  incoming  freight  consisted  of  merchandise  for  our 
stores  or  the  property  of  emigrants  locating  here.  One  of  the 
staples  from  down  the  river  was  crackers,  which,  from  1840 
to  1870,  were  made  in  Niles  in  large  quantities,  in  fact  this 
section  of  the  country  was  supplied  with  Niles  crackers,  as 
that  was  the  name  by  which  all  small  crackers  were  known. 
The  outgoing  freight  was  grain,  pork,  flour,  hides,  furs, 
whiskey,  pig  iron,  and  iron  castings.  Within  twenty  miles 
of  South  Bend,  up  and  down  the  river,  there  were  eight  dis- 
tilleries and  ten  flour  mills.  From  Mishawaka,  where  there 
were  two  blast  furnaces  and  a  forge,  large  quantities  of  pig 
iron  and  iron  castings  were  shipped. 

The  landing  place  in  South  Bend  before  the  dam,  was  built 
at  Chapin's  warehouse,  just  south  of  the  La  Salle  Avenue 
bridge  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  at  what  was  then  known 
as  the  old  red  warehouse,  at  the  foot  of  Colfax  Avenue. 

As  early  as  1832,  efforts  were  made  to  induce  the  federal 
government  to  improve  the  river  and  its  harbor  at  St.  Joseph. 
Mass  meetings  were  held  in  1832  at  St.  Joseph,  Berrien 
Springs,  and  Niles,  at  which  petitions  were  prepared  and 
sent  to  Congress  asking  aid,  but  none  was  forthcoming. 
Again,  in  the  year  1845,  the  traffic  on  the  river  having  reached 
large  proportions  and  the  stage  of  water  gradually  lowering, 
attempts  were  made  to  procure  aid  from  the  federal  gov- 
ernment for  making  the  river  navigable  at  all  seasons,  and 
by  larger  boats,  but  without  avail. 

The  Indiana  legislature,  at  its  annual  sessions  in  1845 
and  1846,  passed  resolutions  urging  upon  Congress  the  claims 
of  the  St.  Joseph  for  an  appropriation  for  its  improvement. 
To  these  appeals,  no  response  was  made.  A  River  and  Har- 
bor Convention  was  called  at  Chicago  and  held  July  6,  1847. 
A  number  of  delegates  were  appointed  by  the  citizens  of  St. 
Joseph  County,  representing  the  interests  of  the  St.  Joseph 
River,  but  no  favorable  results  were  ever  reached. 


Early   Navigation   on   the   St.   Joseph   River  199 

To  show  the  importance  of  the  river,  a  local  writer  of  1847 
says: 

We  have  here  a  river  coursing  through  two  States,  and  passing 
through,  and  in  the  vicinity  of,  an  agricultural  body  of  land  without  a 
superior  in  the  West.  For  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  by  the 
river  distance,  namely  from  Union  City  to  St.  Joseph,  steamboats  can 
navigate  its  waters  and  have  done  so,  a  length  of  steamboat  navigation 
greater  even  than  the  Hudson.  Four  steamboats  now  ply  upon  it,  and 
no  one,  we  believe,  has  counted  its  commerce.  In  the  spring  and  fall  one 
can  hardly  look  upon  this  beautiful  stream  without  seeing  a  boat  of  some 
character  deeply  laden,  sailing  toward  its  mouth. 

The  manufacturers  of  iron,  wood,  wool,  leather  and  other  articles, 
which  line  its  shores  and  the  banks  of  its  tributaries,  and  whose  number 
is  every  year  increasing  with  fast  accelerating  rapidity,  together  with 
eighty  run  of  stone  for  the  grinding  of  flour,  already  at  work  or  being 
put  in  operation  the  present  season,  throws  upon  its  waters  an  amount  of 
exports  which  would  surprise  those  who  have  not  closely  scanned  the 
statistics  of  this  fertile  valley.  , 

In  1844,  the  South  Bend  Manufacturing  Company,  the 
principal  stockholders  in  which  were  A.  R.  and  J.  H.  Harper, 
built  the  dam  at  South  Bend,  and,  in  order  not  to  obstruct 
the  river,  which  by  law  was  navigable  as  far  as  Three  Rivers, 
Michigan,  put  in  a  lock  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  the 
foot  of  Washington  Street,  a  short  distance  north  of  where 
the  water  works  reservoir  now  is.  The  lock  opened  into  the 
west  race.  The  construction  of  the  gates  being  faulty,  a  great 
deal  of  water  leaked  through  them,  which  fact,  together  with 
the  shallowness  of  the  lock,  made  it  necessary  to  drag  the 
heavier  boats  through.  Frequently  the  steamboat  captain 
would  sound  his  whistle  to  collect  citizens  enough  to  pull  the 
boat  through  with  ropes.  It  was  not  a  situation  conducive  to  a 
growth  of  traffic. 

Because  of  the  agitation  for  federal  aid  in  dredging  the 
river,  a  party  of  government  engineers  made  a  careful  survey 
of  the  river  from  Elkhart  to  the  mouth  in  1879.  The  report 
was  adverse  to  making  the  stream  navigable,  and  as  railroads 
had  usurped  the  carrying  trade  to  a  large  measure,  the  river 
was  given  over  to  power  production. 

The  lock  in  the  South  Bend  dam  gradually  fell  into  disuse, 
the  gates  at  either  end  rotted  away  and  were  replaced  by  bulk- 


200         Early  Navigation  on  the  St.  Joseph  River 

heads  and  banked  with  earth.  When  the  city  water  works 
was  built,  the  lock  was  utilized  as  a  tail  race  for  the  water 
from  the  wheels.  Later  a  trunk  was  laid  along  its  bottom 
to  carry  the  tail  water  from  the  wheels,  and  it  was  partly 
filled  up.  In  February,  1894,  it  was  completely  filled,  and 
every  vestige  removed. 

With  the  departure  of  the  May  Graham  it  is  probable  that 
the  last  remnant  of  hope  as  to  the  feasibility  of  ascending 
the  river  in  steam-driven  craft  passed  away,  and  that  never 
more  will  the  wooded  shores  and  the  green  hills  echo  with 
the  sound  of  a  steam  siren.  The  stream  seems  destined  to 
become  as  peaceful  as  that  gentle  poet,  Ben  King,  saw  it,  when 
he  wrote  lovingly : 

Where  the  bumble  bee  sips  when  the  clover  is  red, 
And  the  zephyrs  come  ladened  with  peachblow  perfume, 
Where  the  thistledown  pauses  in  search  of  the  rose 
And  the  myrtle  and  woodbine  and  wild  ivy  grows ; 
Where  the  catbird  pipes  up  and  it  sounds  most  divine 
Off  there  in  the  branches  of  some  lonely  pine  ; 
Oh,  give  me  the  spot  that  I  once  used  to  know 
By  the  side  of  the  placid  old  river  St.  Joe. 


